OUR HISTORY

Building On Tradition

The Potawatomi tribe first occupied the Menomonee Valley hundreds of years ago. At that time, the Valley flourished with natural resources and provided a bounty for many Native American tribes. Many years later the Valley served as an industrial center, and later became blighted and deteriorated into toxic brown fields. This remained a desolate area until the Forest County Potawatomi regained some of this territory and became the first to invest in refurbishing the land, bringing new development to the Menomonee Valley. The development was Potawatomi Hotel & Casino (then Potawatomi Bingo), the first off-reservation casino in the country and still the only one of its kind in the state of Wisconsin.

On March 7, 1991, the then-Potawatomi Bingo opened its doors for the first time. A capacity crowd arrived to welcome this new entertainment venue to the community. That level of enthusiasm has continued for decades and the Casino now welcomes more than 6 million guests annually. Since 1991, the facility has undergone three major expansions and diversified its entertainment options to become one of the leading entertainment destinations in the country.

Continual growth of the property has meant an increase in employment, increased contributions to the community, increased shared revenue payments to local governments and improved outlook for the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe.